Cyborg or Goddess? Donna Haraway: A Presentation By: Jay M. Gipson-King & Katheryn Wright Gender, Authority, and the Politics of Representation in Science & Art July 20, 2004 Edited By: Dr. Picart Associate Professor of English Courtesy Associate Professor of Law

Class Aims  Explain Haraway’s unique definition of “cyborg,” especially as it applies as a social metaphor.  Identify the pitfalls of our traditional categories of difference and emphasize the importance of embracing our ‘fractured identities.’  Understand the ‘informatics of domination.’  Illustrate what a ‘homework economy’ is and its potential dangers.  Integrate Haraway’s cyborg mythology with modern feminism.

Informatics of Domination  What would the politics that embraces fractured identities and complex networks of connections look like?

Informatics of domination…a little game  What terms in the blank replace the old dichotomies found in traditional hierarchical systems…  For example…  When I say representation, you say simulation!  Heat becomes ______.  Reproduction changes to _______.  Biological determinism becomes _______.  Racial chain of being transforms into ________.  Public/private to _________.  Nature/ culture becomes _________.  Sex changes to _________.  Mind becomes ____________.  White capitalist patriarchy transforms into ______.

Cyborg or Goddess?  What is Haraway’s overall definition of the term, “cyborg”?  What are the connotations of the term, “a goddess”?  What are the connotations of the term, “the Goddess”?  What, then, is Haraway’s choice?

Discussion Questions  Which would you rather be, a cyborg or a goddess?  Do you think Haraway’s call for cyborg imagery works on a practical level, or is it merely a “beautiful idea”?  How does Haraway critique other forms of feminism?

Discussion questions  In light of our readings in hooks and Schiebinger, how does Haraway handle the issue of race? Can cyborg imagery apply to groups other than white, middle-class women?  Do gender-bending characters like Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch or Rocky from The Rocky Horror Picture Show relate to Haraway’s cyborg?  Where does art fit into this analysis? What role does it play in the constitution of the cyborg, or does it?

References  Haraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,” Simians, Cyborgs, Women: The Reinvention of Nature (New York: Routledge, 1991)  Moore, Michael. Bowling for Columbine. (Dog Eat Dog Films, 2002).  Senft, Theresa M. "Reading Notes on Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto.'" 21 Dec. 01. Viewed 17 July  Schlöndorff, Volker. The Handmaid’s Tale. Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, Robert Duvall. (Bioskop Films/ MGM, 1990).